Im looking to buy a scanner for obvious reasons. Now I read and re-read the previous threads about scanners, and really got mildly lost. What kinds of scanners do you have that are tried and tested and still available? I looked on the radioshack website and saw some interesting ones, but none outright say railroad so im a bit confused as to which kind I need.
Railroads use 160-162 MHz and I have never seen a scanner that didn’t cover that band. I would say just get what you can afford.[8D]
I don’t exatly know much about my scanner. But it’s a Radio Shack one that holds 1000 channels with 10 banks. It’s fairly easy to program and use. Don’t know how much that helps…[D)]
Yea, for railroad use I would suggest getting one that holds 100 nchannels. That way you can program all the AAR channels with a few left over to use for EOT device freqs if you want.
When I was in Seattle, I walked into a radio shack and got their cheapest scanner. I suggest you do the same [;)]
Just about any scanner you buy will be able to pickup RR frequencies. What you spend will be proportional to increased sensitivity of that scanner.
None of the scanners sold by Radio Shack or any other dealers will say the radios are for a specific use. Instead, the scanners will receive signals on many different frequency bands, and the railroad frequencies are typically in the 160 Megahertz range; most scanners will pick up signals in that frequency range.
Some of the features in a scanner include lock-out unwanted channels, a way to designate certain channels as priority channels, a dedicated weather channel, channel delay, powered by either alkaline, Ni-Cad or Nickel-Metal Hydride batteries, and programmable search; the latter feature allows the user to set upper and lower frequency limits and the scanner will search for active frequencies in that range.
Many scanners have 200 channels or more, but for scanning railroad communications you don’t need that many channels because the railroads only use 100 channels, and the more channels you have the slower the scan goes.
Most scanners come standard with “rubber duckie” antennas which may not always pull in all of the transmissions. There are antennas out there which do a better job of pulling in the more distant transmissions.
A good book railroad scanning is “Railroad Radio” by Vincent Reh. It is published by Byron Hill Publishing Company in Grand Isle, VT
I have a Radio Shack Pro 40 that works just fine picking up any railroad transmissions…I need a new outside antenna, which I would recommend as the “rubber duckie” the scanner comes with will only allow you to hear from a distance of about one to two miles, depending on atmospherics, transmission from train or over microwave (i.e. dispatchers, etc.), and other issues.
Since you are in Minnesota, be aware that you are restricted from operating a portable radio that can pick up police channels when in a vehicle - Unless you have a FCC Ham Radio license. I was pulled over once and ‘asked’ about my scanner parked in the cup holder between the front seats. I had to get my bag out of the trunk and showed the local cop my license and a copy of the Minnesota law. Even then he took down my drivers license info and made a call to his department. It took about 20 minutes before he allowed me to go. Another friend had his scanner confiscated over the week-end and he had to drive back 45 miles the next Monday with his license and a copy of the statute to recover his radio! And yes, these scanners can pick up police channels. Many law enforcement departments are now on a higher band and have encryption - so the problem is going away, but the law still is on the books. Go to a local ‘Ham Fest’ and take the course/test - it is worth the cost.
Jim
coborn35,
While your at it, get a good base antenna if your buying a base unit,if your getting a w/t type the rubber ducky is good but there are better ones out there…I have 3 RS types and they all are good…
PS one of the RS scanners is a base/mobile so you can use it either way,but dont forget the antennas…
Regards
So this should work? http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2986425
I am aware that it is illegal and at the moment most of my fanning occurs across the bay in Superior. Now heres my question. I am legally employed by the Duluth and North Shore Railway AND am a LEGALLY certified student operating crewmember. Now if the police showed up and I explained this and showed them my I.D would they probably be ok with it once they realized I wasnt listening in on all the “Code Red at the Donut House” calls? (that was totally in jest by the way I know some police officers and state troopers, they do a very good job at a very hard job.)
With a button that automatically searches police frequencies, you will find it a lot harder to talk your way out of a ticket. [:-,]
Check the specs again. On the website, it skips frequencies from 54 to 318MHz. It must be a typo on the website, but check it out before buying to make sure it recieves 160-162MHz. The website is vague about sensitivity, so it’s hard to say how good it is at picking up weak (distant) signals.
If you buy any accessories for it, skip the center-mounted coil tunable antenna. The one I bought did worse than the original “rubber-duckie”.
…Have had scanners for years…{Radio Shack}…Can anyone tell me {from their experience}, of any accessory type antenna avail to replace the rubber ducky std. one, and get somewhat better performance from it…? One that is reasonable in size. I Just have never checked on what’s available.
Just noticed on the Radio Shack web site a metal telescoping antenna that replaces the rubber duckie for their scanners for about $15…I think I might just buy one of those instead of a magnetic rooftop unit.
I have a Radio Shack PRO-83 that I got on sale a couple of years ago. It is, by now, probably a discontinued model, but I am sure they have an equivalent version. It has 200 channels in 10 banks of 20 channels per bank. So I programmed all 100 AAR channels in the first 5 banks and use the last 5 banks for special combinations.
For instance Bank 6 has 20 channels I might reasonably want to use while railfanning the UP lines in the SoCal basin. Bank 7 is the same for BNSF. Banks 8, 9, and 10 are for custom combinations for trips, etc.
I also have the End Of Train Device frequencies where I can use them. This is good when you are in remote areas with sporadic traffic. The device sends out a short squeal or chirp that has a range of 1 to 2 miles. Tells you a train is nearing your position. Of course, when near a busy yard I turn the EOT frequency off or I’d get nothing but those chirps.
Most of my railfanning is at the Fullerton Amtrak station on the BNSF Transcon so I stick to AAR Channels 30 and 36, the road channels for the San Bernardino and San Diego branches. A scanner is somewhay wasted there since BNSF train crews and dispatchers don’t talk enough to make it worthwhile. Most of what you hear is Amtrak and Metrolink conductors giving the highball to the engineers. Once heard a Metrolink conductor ask the driver “Any runners”? Engineer said, “Yeah, a couple.” So they waited for a couple of late arrivals to run across the bridge and catch the train. If something goes wrong (switch failue, signal problems, accident, etc.) BNSF talks it up, but that’s rare.
UP, on the other hand, is positively chatty.
Jack
Modelcar,
And anyone else whos on this discussion,check out this website,the guy that owns or runs this place used to be on the forums alot,have heard him lately tho…
…Yes, I remember someone on here that was dealing with antennas.
Most people buy scanners to listen in on 911.These units are programed for those freqs. To get the best quality signal for rr listening, it is best to have a scanner aligned for the rr bands so I have been told by scanner buffs.
Coborn;
As I understand it most laws restricting the use of radios in vehicles or on public property only restrict those radios that can intercept police/public safety transmissions. There are now only five states that restrict the use of scanners in either cars or on public property. Kentucky and Indiana restrict the use of scanners on public property and in cars while Florida, New York, and Minnesota only restrict the use of scanners in cars.
Some police/public service jurisditions have gone over to trunk tracking radios, and I don’t know if Minnesota is one of them, so you might be able to use your scanner in your car in Minnesota without a permit unless your scanner has a trunk tracking capability. You should check with your local law enforcement authorities about that.